Should You Ever Go Into Business With a Partner? A Med Spa Owner's Answer

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[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to ruin anybody's idea about doctors, but they are the worst business people on the planet.

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[SPEAKER_01]: We are horrible at this because we're never trained.

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[SPEAKER_01]: What sets my practice apart is number one, I am a medical doctor, amen M.D.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I think there are definitely good partnerships.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to tell you the opposite story of bad partnerships.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Hello, welcome back to the Allumine Podcast.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm con Peters and I have Dr. Kathy Gomer with me today.

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[SPEAKER_00]: She is the medical director and the owner of Regaine functional medicine, anesthetics, and Lee Wood Kansas.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for being with us today.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for having me, Cam.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I'm super excited to be here.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Dr. Comer, I met, we've both been in Kansas City for a while.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We met when, so I am a clinical trainer for in-mode, which is a company that makes the device called a power, which is a women's health platform.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And I was assigned their account to go train them, and I have trained.

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[SPEAKER_00]: hundreds of accounts and yeah for me but too many but there's certain ones that are memorable for different reasons but my experience with you guys was fantastic.

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[SPEAKER_00]: It was not only easy to do but it was just very enjoyable like you've just got fantastic staff and you are as a person or very radiant and you are very kind.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so I will check in the mail.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I get a ticket.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So, I think you also trained us on Morpheus, too, if I remember.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, correct, you're right.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, there's two different trainings.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we loved you so much, we had you back.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it was awesome.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So, and I wanted to, and we're both Medspot owners in the same city.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And I understand that some, not everybody is friendly with each other when they're in the same industry.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Unfortunately, but very true.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And honestly, I don't know that I would probably ever agree to do something like this with anybody other than you, because I know you entrust you so much, but yeah, it is.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It's not necessarily always the most collaborative business to be in.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Correct.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Because we're all fighting for a piece of the pie.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But there is enough pie to go around.

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[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of our listeners are business owners.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And in any type of industry, but as well as there's a lot of practitioners who are also in the same space.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe in the middle of their journey have been doing it a while or embarking on this journey.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So I wanted to kind of pick your brain about your experience.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I've spent one podcast kind of just describing my experience, but I wanted to bring you on.

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[SPEAKER_00]: and talk a little bit about how that's been for you.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I would be super happy to share.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It is, it's been a journey, as you know, because we've talked before.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And so you've kind of have heard about my journey.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, I'm happy to share whatever knowledge and experience I have to help someone else along the way.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So first of all, where did you start?

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[SPEAKER_00]: So for me, I started in orthopedics.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And so I have this kind of like interesting story of how I trickled into aesthetics and never thought I'd be there.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So tell me a little bit about where you started and kind of how you got into aesthetics.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Well mine was another O medical practice.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I was an OBGYN.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So Tetrics and gynecology.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So my

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[SPEAKER_01]: Star was, I had an OB-GYN private practice in Lawrence, Kansas, for 17 years, and Lawrence is a tiny little town.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So you know everybody, everybody knows you, and you're the grocery store, and you're like, oh my gosh, you delivered three of my babies.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So that was wonderful.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And then I think I just kind of got to a point where I needed a change, so I became an OB-Hospitalist at Shawnee Mission for 13 years.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And before I left my private practice,

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[SPEAKER_01]: the patients that kind of we all grew up together and we're now interested in having facial aesthetics done.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So I was asked, like, hey, I'm comfortable with you delivering my baby and doing my pelvic exam.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Would you put Botox in my face and I'm like, well, gosh, yeah, why wouldn't I do that?

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[SPEAKER_01]: So of course, like everybody else, you go and you start your training, you meet with your local wrap, and et cetera.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So it kind of started with a small little mitspa within my OB-GYN

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[SPEAKER_01]: Then I decided, well, being part of the hospital, I wanted to have a little bit more autonomy, so I branched out and had a private medspaught in Lawrence.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And then we brought in the functional medicine side as well, because as an OB-GYN, of course, I deal with women's hormones all the time from.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Puberty through reproductive ages, then Perry menopause menopause and beyond, so that wasn't too far of a stretch for me.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So doing some training on the men's aspect of hormone replacement as well, testosterone replacement.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And then at that time I had partners, we decided let's bring the business into the Kansas City market.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So we started a small space here in Kansas City and

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[SPEAKER_01]: Of course, Kansas City is a much larger market and our business here grew much faster than Lawrence, so it became our primary office.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So, that's kind of how I just dipped my toe into the Ascetics world, just as part of my initial OB practice, but it has become my full-time business now.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I've retired from OB.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, two years ago.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So, this wasn't really on my plan to ask, but of course, it sparked this, and I think it probably deserves its own entire episode.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But tell me a little bit, something that I encounter is, because we also do hormone replacement therapy.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We do kind of go up against some OBGYNs, or physicians that work in women's health that are against that.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And so, I worked in primary care for a while, and if somebody asked me to check their hormones, I would cringe.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And then if it came

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[SPEAKER_00]: It's normal and so I understand it differently now, but from your position as being an OBGYN and being in that how you were trained and how you got to hormones, what was that like for you?

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[SPEAKER_01]: Well, obviously, I wish I could say that I was really well-trained in my residency program on managing hormones.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But even in the OBGYN world, you don't get a lot of training in that, and especially not up-to-date training.

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[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of the things that are being taught are still from 20, 30 years ago or more.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So, the OB-GYN community is even themselves still a little bit behind the times, if you well.

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[SPEAKER_01]: We've learned so much more about hormones, hormone management, how to use it safely, when to use it, what age group, I mean, I could go on and on, and you're right, it's going to be a whole separate podcast in itself.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But if you're passionate about it, which for someone like yourself, you've probably taken the time to do some training and learn more about it and how to do it safely, et cetera.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I have OB-GYNs referred to me all the time because they're trying to see 30, 40 patients a day, and their primary patients are still going to be those pregnant women, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: So they hormones are a complex conversation because they involve not only what's going on with your hormone levels,

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[SPEAKER_01]: It's about intimacy, it's about how I feel every day, how I feel about myself, how I feel in my own skin, I've gained weight, I have all these stuff, I mean, it's a whole long conversation.

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[SPEAKER_01]: In our office, we take a full hour to do that initial consultation, and no, it'll be July in in the world has time for a full hour to talk to a patient.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It would derail their entire day.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So, I think what sets Medspot owners, a part of those who are interested in bringing in

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[SPEAKER_01]: wellness care into their spa is first of all you have to know what you're doing because as you and I both know things pop up all the time and they may be following some algorithm of some sort and that's not how the body works.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You have to be able to understand how to manage side effects and what to do when a woman has breakthrough bleeding or you know any other

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[SPEAKER_01]: manage that then you probably shouldn't be doing it.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I agree.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But I would have no problem sending a patient to you because I would understand that you know what you're doing, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: But if an OB doesn't really know you, they may just assume that you're maybe one of the others that are doing it that may not be doing it well.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Right, so that's unfortunate.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think that there are some people who are interested in this is a subject we can talk about as well as far as like what's the medsbos main motive as far as business and I think there's two categories.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think there is a practices that are results in safety driven, which sounds nice, but they're also practice who are primarily revenue driven.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And if you are revenue-driven, then you are putting safety and results in the backseat.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And you're sacrificing something that's really important.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I couldn't agree more.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And that's what happens because this industry of hormone replacement therapy can be lucrative.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And so people get some business owners and practitioners, hopefully not practitioners, but I think that can happen.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Um, get narrowly focused on what they can gain from that financially and try to skip, right?

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[SPEAKER_00]: Try to skip, um, you know, when I, when I go to the gym, I, one of my um, staff, one time texted me and said, hey, Kim, what do you listen to in your at the gym?

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[SPEAKER_00]: And I screenshoted her a course I was working on that was like on peptides in hormonal replacement therapy.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Because I'm always learning and I like learning.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think some practitioners maybe skip that because they're just focused on the wrong things.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and I think that's why you can get into trouble.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I couldn't agree more and obviously that's how all of us get a bad name.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Right.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So don't trust that clinic on the corner because you don't know what their training is.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You don't know how much they know or don't know.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And obviously, just like everything else, every office and every practitioner's different, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: But it's those people that maybe decide to skip a few steps to kind of get to a lucrative part of it, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: Is definitely what gives everybody a bad rap.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And that's unfortunate.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And I think, and we probably are gonna get to it later on during the discussion.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But what?

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[SPEAKER_01]: I think what sets my practice apart is number one, I am a medical doctor, I'm an MD.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Gosh, I'm going to tell you how long ago, let's see, I graduated in med school in 1991.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Nice, do your math people that means I'm really old, um, but clearly we clearly owns a meds public, and I use all the things.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It's a lot of maintenance all up in here.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So, um, we run our business as a medical practice.

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[SPEAKER_01]: First and foremost, we take it very seriously and that we want to provide good sound medical and scientifically-based care.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It just happens to be in a lovely med spa environment.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Right.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So you can have the two and do them well.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You just have to decide what your priorities are.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And my priority is every single one of my medical providers is trained by me.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Now, obviously, I don't sit in the room with them every day, every hour because obviously, no owner of the business can do that and try to grow and run a business.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But I have built that training to know what their training is going to look like, what the end product is going to be, and what the quality of that product to be given to our patients is going to look like.

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[SPEAKER_01]: higher the right person for that position, which I know we're going to talk about later.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But I mean, and I wish I had a crystal ball on who to hire, there's no, there's never guarantee as I know you know, but you know, one of the things that sets you apart is

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[SPEAKER_01]: the quality of care you provide you.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Sure people come in.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Sure all the thing is like if you start with being revenue-focused, the results in the safety doesn't come later, right?

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[SPEAKER_00]: But if you focus on being a practice that's narrowly focused on, I shouldn't say narrowly, primarily focused on results in safety to write new comes.

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[SPEAKER_00]: 100%.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So if you're doing this well and patients are happy, yes.

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[SPEAKER_01]: The revenue will come.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The revenue will come.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So start with that.

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[SPEAKER_00]: It's not to say that you can't be focused on revenue or you can't have obviously you have to.

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[SPEAKER_00]: If you're a business owner, you can't just let it hope that it.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, you have to have some some intelligence in that area.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But like I said, if you start with doing it the right way and doing it well and being a medical person, then revenue comes later.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And obviously, in our business, which our office is, I would say, 65% functional, maybe 70% functional, and the rest is aesthetic.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So we're a little bit different than your average Medspa.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But especially on the functional medicine side, it is a number one advertising method

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[SPEAKER_01]: And that person, male or female, ends up feeling better.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Their symptoms are resolved.

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[SPEAKER_01]: We get them back to feeling like they're old self and their energies back and their drive is back.

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[SPEAKER_01]: LeBito's back, they're happy with their partner again.

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[SPEAKER_01]: All of those things, I guarantee you they're going to probably refer at least three other people into the business.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And then those three will refer.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And then they'll, so it is,

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[SPEAKER_01]: the primary way that our business has grown.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And yes, we have a website, yes, we have all of these other things that we can talk about as far as the marketing and advertising.

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[SPEAKER_01]: No matter how much money I throw at that, it will never equal what we do in direct patient referral.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's, I think that's, honestly, I think my whole business was built on that.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And it was primarily because when I started doing aesthetics, I had, I personally had no intention of being a business out of it.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to do this on the side.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I have some access to it.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I can do my friends and neighbors and then you know, they had a great result and then they told their friends and then they came to see me and then I was like, well, this is really fun.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Like I'm making people feel better about themselves.

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[SPEAKER_01]: smiling.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Right.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And so I did at the time, I did not know this business was lucrative.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I had no idea.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I was just really satisfied with helping people look and feel better.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And when you can turn the dial-up on somebody's confidence, it's like so many areas of their life get better.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The relationships with their spouse, how they are as a parent, where they as a co-worker,

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[SPEAKER_00]: It all gets better and so if in that and that's addicting for me to be able to provide that to somebody and I think that's part of why we grew is because I'm hiring people who are like minded like that just like you said You're finding people that have that same who get that same gratification out of doing something well

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[SPEAKER_00]: Same energy, same spirit.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You have to have that culture, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: You're building that culture within your business and everyone that comes into your business, it's your baby has to have that same

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[SPEAKER_01]: drive and and feel the same way.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, it's not their business, but they should be promoting it the same way that you are with the same intensity, the same spirit, the same quality that you want to provide to your to your patients.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's one of the main things that a business owner's supposed to do is create that culture and let that your staff understand what is our culture and what are we putting out to our our patients.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And that I think that has to come from the top down.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So I have a great example just to kind of say that from a kind of a reverse aspect of right the leader is creating that culture.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think one good indication of having quality staff is somebody who's willing to say no.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Even if they are commissioned, let's say they're commissioned on certain things they go, you know what?

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[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I'll say it myself as like, you know what, as much as I would love to sell that to you.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think it's the best.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think that's going to get you the outcome that you're looking for.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I would prefer that you do this.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I would prefer that you wait on that.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And let's like, I had somebody that wanted to do a procedure that was going to help contour an area of her body.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And I said, listen, are you planning on losing some weight?

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I've got a goal lose another 30 pounds of my, let's just wait.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Why don't you get there and then we'll assess if we need to do that, we might not need to do that.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Sure.

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[SPEAKER_00]: In patients respect that and anyway, I kind of segue to a little bit, but what I was going to agree with all of my staff would do that.

16:31.204 --> 16:34.627
[SPEAKER_00]: And I know that I know that they would be like, I don't think that's safe or a good idea.

16:35.387 --> 16:38.370
[SPEAKER_00]: Now as far as creating that culture, I think you can

16:42.587 --> 16:49.253
[SPEAKER_00]: I've heard of another, at an example of an I'm not going to say who it's within the United States of America, I'll say that.

16:49.553 --> 16:49.833
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

16:50.194 --> 16:57.100
[SPEAKER_00]: Where they were pressuring their staff to me certain commission goals and kind of almost.

16:58.855 --> 17:10.719
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if it was a threat so much as if it was a had a threatening undertone to it like if you don't meet this expectation of selling this amount, you don't have a job here or you can't be successful here.

17:10.759 --> 17:20.182
[SPEAKER_00]: So what that does to that staff is create fear and then they don't want to lose their job or the opportunity they have because it is a great opportunity to work in a Medspa.

17:20.282 --> 17:21.923
[SPEAKER_00]: It's great job to have.

17:22.603 --> 17:35.474
[SPEAKER_00]: Now they are trying to sell things to patients that may not be appropriate and then you're going to end up with complaints and problems and adverse outcomes and stuff like that and so that is that direct leadership

17:48.625 --> 17:54.067
[SPEAKER_01]: a very, in my opinion, inappropriate way to manage your staff.

17:55.028 --> 17:58.849
[SPEAKER_01]: And we are very much in alignment with you.

17:58.869 --> 18:04.772
[SPEAKER_01]: I have no problem with my staff saying, no, you will not get three syringes of filler in your lips.

18:06.276 --> 18:09.158
[SPEAKER_01]: or whatever, you know, crazy requests they're getting.

18:10.559 --> 18:28.949
[SPEAKER_01]: One, because I don't want people running around looking crazy, and saying, oh, Dr. Gommers office, but yeah, the staff should be incentivized, but that should always be in the benefit of the patient, not to, oh, you need to meet this quota or else.

18:29.289 --> 18:29.509
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

18:29.729 --> 18:33.291
[SPEAKER_01]: So I don't, not sure who's doing that, but I would.

18:33.991 --> 18:36.172
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, run, not walk out of that.

18:36.292 --> 18:37.293
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure there are.

18:37.433 --> 18:51.498
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure there are practices all over that have that environment and I would say my advice to anyone is to, to not create that environment of pressuring people into dealing by fear is is I don't know.

18:51.738 --> 18:52.719
[SPEAKER_01]: Never a good plan.

18:52.759 --> 18:57.741
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that is a recipe for disaster because like you say that's going to lead to somebody.

18:58.561 --> 19:06.849
[SPEAKER_01]: getting a treatment or a service or something done to them that they number one didn't need or went wrong because something happened and it will come back.

19:07.229 --> 19:08.290
[SPEAKER_01]: Right, absolutely.

19:09.191 --> 19:12.814
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so I'm going to back up a little bit to the beginning of your journey.

19:13.615 --> 19:16.898
[SPEAKER_00]: Did I think it's, I don't know, you can tell me.

19:17.138 --> 19:17.719
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

19:17.819 --> 19:21.402
[SPEAKER_00]: For a doctor, I could imagine you having a little more

19:22.423 --> 19:24.584
[SPEAKER_00]: feeling a little bit more prepared to have your own business.

19:24.644 --> 19:25.244
[SPEAKER_00]: Is that correct?

19:25.704 --> 19:37.029
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I mean, I think we all believe that doctors have their own business, but Lord, okay, I don't want to ruin anybody's idea about doctors, but they are the worst business people on the planet.

19:37.230 --> 19:44.373
[SPEAKER_01]: We are so ingrained in our training and our medical profession and science and everything else.

19:45.993 --> 19:51.696
[SPEAKER_01]: We are horrible at this because we're never trained in what, what, how do you run a business?

19:51.837 --> 20:02.842
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, and very few doctors now own their own practice, they're usually owned either by a hospital or they're in a multi-specialty group or some other collaborative effort where there's

20:04.243 --> 20:08.648
[SPEAKER_01]: at least an office manager or a team of office managers if it's a bigger group.

20:09.449 --> 20:12.493
[SPEAKER_01]: So unfortunately, they're not really good.

20:12.774 --> 20:15.577
[SPEAKER_00]: Business people, that's hardly ever own a business.

20:15.737 --> 20:19.362
[SPEAKER_00]: So you're saying in med school, you are not trained on.

20:20.082 --> 20:24.624
[SPEAKER_00]: marketing or, you know, how to manage social media, oh gosh, no.

20:24.644 --> 20:39.130
[SPEAKER_00]: Or how to, I mean, I think a big one is this is what I encounter when I hire new providers, especially nurse practitioners, because other categories a little bit more comfortable talking about money, but providers, um, prescribers are particularly uncomfortable with talking about money salespeople.

20:39.250 --> 20:39.671
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

20:40.671 --> 20:48.776
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, so they will tell you so, like, oh, I, I will be happy to do the treatment, but I'm not going to talk to him about the cost or the financing more and they're scared.

20:48.896 --> 20:53.719
[SPEAKER_00]: They're scared to say like it costs as much, well, I'd worry that that's too much money.

20:53.919 --> 20:55.700
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how to ask for that.

20:55.740 --> 21:09.048
[SPEAKER_00]: And then they end up diminishing their treatment plan because they're trying to shrink it down into what a mold of what they think the patient could afford, which, first of all, we should never decide what a patient could have.

21:09.588 --> 21:13.329
[SPEAKER_00]: forward right never assume that you they know what the patient sitting in front of you can afford.

21:13.489 --> 21:18.971
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, they could be a new divorce say that just got a lot of aluminium was looking for a revenge body, right?

21:19.051 --> 21:21.011
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that could be that worse.

21:21.031 --> 21:21.352
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure.

21:21.652 --> 21:23.612
[SPEAKER_00]: So, how was that for you?

21:23.672 --> 21:26.513
[SPEAKER_00]: Is like tell me about like your first year of being in business?

21:26.533 --> 21:28.854
[SPEAKER_00]: Was there something that was really frightening to you?

21:29.834 --> 21:34.555
[SPEAKER_00]: Something that you didn't expect that or what was like the biggest learning curve.

21:34.615 --> 21:36.436
[SPEAKER_00]: I know I just asked like three different questions, but they

21:36.676 --> 21:40.658
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, and they're all great questions, honestly, I hope I can answer them well.

21:40.979 --> 21:47.542
[SPEAKER_01]: That was gosh, um, 2000 and 10 or 11, so it's been a while.

21:47.942 --> 21:57.808
[SPEAKER_01]: There was a lot of fear in that first year stepping out of what I was trained for and what I knew I could do without even thinking about it anymore, you know.

21:58.960 --> 22:03.543
[SPEAKER_01]: taking care of patients in the office, operating, doing C-sections, delivering babies.

22:03.563 --> 22:04.543
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what I was trained for.

22:04.623 --> 22:08.105
[SPEAKER_01]: So I could do that without even actively thinking about it.

22:08.526 --> 22:13.909
[SPEAKER_01]: And then to step out and start a small business was like, oh my god, am I going to be enough?

22:14.169 --> 22:20.212
[SPEAKER_01]: Do I am I going to make a wrong decision and I'm not going to be able to pay my staff or

22:21.794 --> 22:23.456
[SPEAKER_00]: my bank loan or whatever it was.

22:23.557 --> 22:29.366
[SPEAKER_01]: So it was really a fear of the unknown of not am I going to know how to make these decisions.

22:29.866 --> 22:34.494
[SPEAKER_01]: Luckily, I was not in it alone in that first step into the Med Spa world.

22:34.534 --> 22:36.397
[SPEAKER_01]: I did have to do other business partners.

22:37.037 --> 22:43.581
[SPEAKER_01]: one was on the aesthetic side, she was an esthetician, and then my other partner was on the business side.

22:43.641 --> 22:47.724
[SPEAKER_01]: He'd already been involved in starting his own medspares.

22:47.784 --> 22:51.566
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, there was no medspares that time in Lawrence.

22:51.787 --> 22:52.787
[SPEAKER_01]: So we were kind of the first.

22:52.867 --> 22:54.028
[SPEAKER_01]: So all three of us teamed

22:54.428 --> 22:56.410
[SPEAKER_01]: together to open that first office.

22:56.970 --> 23:01.393
[SPEAKER_01]: So the benefit of that was of course you're not alone in making decisions.

23:01.413 --> 23:03.555
[SPEAKER_01]: You have some other people to bounce things off.

23:03.675 --> 23:08.819
[SPEAKER_01]: But ultimately that partnership did not work out and we can circle back to that later on.

23:09.299 --> 23:13.202
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, most physicians are type-aid personalities anyway.

23:13.763 --> 23:16.905
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it's always everything has to be perfect.

23:17.045 --> 23:19.647
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, in business, it's not always perfect.

23:22.609 --> 23:23.850
[SPEAKER_01]: You should know the answer, right?

23:23.930 --> 23:26.432
[SPEAKER_00]: And now we have the answer and having the answer.

23:27.393 --> 23:30.796
[SPEAKER_00]: And now you're in an environment where I don't have the answers.

23:30.836 --> 23:31.337
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't have the answer.

23:31.357 --> 23:32.217
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not the expert.

23:32.778 --> 23:36.061
[SPEAKER_01]: So everybody comes to me in my office because I'm the doctor.

23:36.101 --> 23:37.942
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm the expert and I can answer their questions.

23:38.283 --> 23:39.083
[SPEAKER_01]: This was not that.

23:39.304 --> 23:41.205
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was not the expert.

23:41.245 --> 23:45.869
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was reading and luckily I married to a,

23:46.970 --> 23:58.276
[SPEAKER_01]: bank president, so anything with finances and money and running numbers and putting performance together and all of those kind of things, it wasn't just me.

23:58.456 --> 24:00.677
[SPEAKER_01]: Luckily, I had a numbers guide to help me out.

24:01.278 --> 24:11.843
[SPEAKER_01]: So it was, I would say it took a village during that first year and it was very educational, it was exciting and terrifying all at the same time.

24:12.232 --> 24:16.375
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, okay, so I wouldn't have changed it for the world, because I this is my full time job now.

24:16.476 --> 24:24.222
[SPEAKER_01]: So it was something that yeah, that first step is scary, but if you stay with it and you hopefully do it.

24:26.343 --> 24:27.884
[SPEAKER_01]: hopefully primarily in the right way.

24:28.004 --> 24:29.785
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, there's definitely been ups and downs.

24:29.825 --> 24:32.886
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not been a straight line, but you'll get there eventually, hopefully.

24:33.086 --> 24:42.411
[SPEAKER_00]: So did you just kind of quit your job and get into this business or was there like a transitionary period where you kind of had a toe in each?

24:42.531 --> 24:43.731
[SPEAKER_01]: There absolutely was.

24:43.891 --> 24:46.733
[SPEAKER_01]: So I did not, so I left.

24:47.513 --> 24:51.838
[SPEAKER_01]: I started my practice in Lawrence in 95.

24:51.918 --> 24:53.019
[SPEAKER_01]: That was my private practice.

24:53.560 --> 25:02.509
[SPEAKER_01]: Didn't open the Med Spa until, like I said, 2010 or 11, then decided to become an Obey House Wist in Kansas City.

25:03.470 --> 25:09.379
[SPEAKER_01]: kind of primarily because it gave me more time to focus on the business of the medspa.

25:09.940 --> 25:18.052
[SPEAKER_01]: So it was kind of a transition from full-time OBGYN to kind of part-time OBGYN.

25:18.572 --> 25:26.518
[SPEAKER_01]: Trying to run a small business, then I started kind of stepping back from my OB-Hospitalist position at Shawnee Mission by decreasing.

25:26.938 --> 25:31.322
[SPEAKER_01]: We did 24 hour shifts when I was there, so just decreasing the number of 24 hour shifts per month.

25:31.882 --> 25:35.745
[SPEAKER_01]: So each time I dropped down a shift, I was able to spend more time with the business.

25:35.845 --> 25:40.949
[SPEAKER_01]: It was a slow transition, but I finally gave up my OB-Joyan completely.

25:40.969 --> 25:42.990
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's see if it was a couple of years ago in October.

25:43.090 --> 25:46.293
[SPEAKER_01]: So then I, that was my final transition over.

25:46.715 --> 25:52.005
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have, like, after you made that transition, do you feel like the timing was perfect?

25:52.205 --> 25:54.410
[SPEAKER_00]: Or do you feel like widened it this long time ago?

25:54.740 --> 26:05.348
[SPEAKER_01]: I wish I would have done it before the timing was great for me because I was ready in the time of my life and the age that I am.

26:05.869 --> 26:16.757
[SPEAKER_01]: It would have been nice to be able to do it a little bit earlier because I think it would have shown me a little bit more about my maybe some of my partner's mismanagement that we're going on.

26:17.117 --> 26:17.477
[SPEAKER_01]: That's fair.

26:17.898 --> 26:22.300
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I still have my day job, I wasn't in this the medspot every day.

26:22.980 --> 26:26.462
[SPEAKER_01]: And so sometimes you don't see what's going on when you're not there every day.

26:26.563 --> 26:27.703
[SPEAKER_01]: So I do regret that.

26:27.743 --> 26:32.126
[SPEAKER_01]: I wish I would have been able to be there more maybe a few years earlier than that.

26:32.206 --> 26:36.128
[SPEAKER_01]: But you know hindsight's always 2020 so it's hard.

26:36.148 --> 26:37.409
[SPEAKER_00]: It's hard to make that leap.

26:37.629 --> 26:42.712
[SPEAKER_00]: I remember having a mentor that when I was I was working as a geriatric

26:43.250 --> 26:44.390
[SPEAKER_00]: geriatric nurse practitioner.

26:44.410 --> 26:53.033
[SPEAKER_00]: So I was and that I was in the primary care office and then I switched over to because my degree is actually adult gerantological nurse practitioners.

26:53.053 --> 26:54.893
[SPEAKER_00]: So I loved geriatrics.

26:54.993 --> 26:57.194
[SPEAKER_00]: So I managed three different nursing homes.

26:57.294 --> 27:00.135
[SPEAKER_00]: I was the only we had a medical director but he was never there.

27:00.295 --> 27:02.955
[SPEAKER_00]: So I took care of and I loved it.

27:03.295 --> 27:07.637
[SPEAKER_00]: It was very flexible for me as far as like those patients live there.

27:07.677 --> 27:10.317
[SPEAKER_00]: So I could see them at six o'clock in the morning or six o'clock in the evening, it didn't matter.

27:13.038 --> 27:14.720
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, die a little bit more into.

27:14.800 --> 27:15.421
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's similar.

27:15.481 --> 27:17.544
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a similar scenario.

27:18.144 --> 27:23.611
[SPEAKER_00]: But I would see 25 patients in a day and have to write these really extensive notes, right?

27:24.572 --> 27:29.238
[SPEAKER_00]: And make some pretty complex decisions about like people nursing homes typically aren't.

27:30.170 --> 27:54.552
[SPEAKER_00]: the picture of health and they're not even they're not even they're they're they're way on the side of the of the curve of not healthy you know they're leaning really into that almost in the hospital right so they're complicated little I call them house of cards but then I would like finish there and then I'd go to my little med spa which was like this little room I was renting from a car tractor and I would see like three patients and make five times as much money in an hour

27:55.372 --> 27:58.953
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I would be like, uh, you're like, what's wrong with this picture?

27:58.973 --> 27:59.073
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure.

27:59.453 --> 28:05.594
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, but then of course that willingness to leap into and leaving that because there's security with that.

28:05.774 --> 28:07.495
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's what you were trained in, right?

28:07.515 --> 28:10.235
[SPEAKER_01]: You were trained as a medical nurse practitioner.

28:10.375 --> 28:10.595
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

28:10.635 --> 28:11.875
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was comfortable for me.

28:12.015 --> 28:13.216
[SPEAKER_00]: And I understand it.

28:13.236 --> 28:13.696
[SPEAKER_00]: And I knew it.

28:13.756 --> 28:16.876
[SPEAKER_00]: And I knew what I was getting into and what was to come of it.

28:16.956 --> 28:22.658
[SPEAKER_00]: But, and then I just had this mentor that was like, Kim, you just got to leave.

28:22.698 --> 28:23.278
[SPEAKER_00]: You just got to leave.

28:23.318 --> 28:23.798
[SPEAKER_00]: You'll be fine.

28:26.613 --> 28:41.201
[SPEAKER_00]: And I did, and once I poured myself a hundred percent into my business, it just went, you know, and I can't say, you know, it's, so if I'm speaking to all these medspawn owners or people that are kind of in this transition, I would say, I don't know,

28:50.907 --> 29:01.799
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and that once they pour into their office in their passion and what they love like it's I went from working, you know, my 40 hours a week to probably 120 hours a week, which was Fine, because I loved it.

29:02.279 --> 29:03.280
[SPEAKER_00]: I loved every piece of it.

29:03.721 --> 29:05.483
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's the thing with being a business owner, right?

29:06.704 --> 29:17.234
[SPEAKER_01]: There is no hardly any time off, there's no, oh, it's an eight hour day, there's, I mean, because, you know, if stuff has to be done, it's going to have somebody's got to do it.

29:17.254 --> 29:17.954
[SPEAKER_01]: So we have to do it.

29:18.535 --> 29:20.957
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's your baby, right?

29:21.017 --> 29:21.538
[SPEAKER_01]: It's your.

29:23.599 --> 29:26.260
[SPEAKER_01]: livelihood now since I've given up my day job.

29:26.280 --> 29:27.681
[SPEAKER_01]: This is, this is what I do.

29:27.841 --> 29:34.103
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's, you know, it's a whole, it takes on a whole different level of feeling about it.

29:34.303 --> 29:38.264
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's not the, oh gosh, I've got to work 80 hours.

29:38.525 --> 29:40.745
[SPEAKER_01]: It's, you just do it because you love it.

29:41.065 --> 29:44.627
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is what you've developed and you love seeing it grow and you love to see.

29:45.667 --> 29:48.230
[SPEAKER_01]: people leaving happy and healthier.

29:48.310 --> 29:55.397
[SPEAKER_01]: And like you said, standing taller and feeling confident and see your staff growing and getting more trained on different things.

29:55.497 --> 30:01.243
[SPEAKER_01]: And I mean, it is people go, oh my gosh, don't you miss OBGYN and delivering babies?

30:01.852 --> 30:07.714
[SPEAKER_01]: I said, no, and people just look at me like, oh my god, what is wrong with her?

30:07.734 --> 30:09.855
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what you were trained to do.

30:09.975 --> 30:15.757
[SPEAKER_01]: And of course, I'm, who does, there's nothing better in the medical field than bringing you life into the world.

30:16.217 --> 30:16.717
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.

30:16.877 --> 30:17.077
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

30:17.418 --> 30:23.940
[SPEAKER_01]: Other than the 5% of the time when all hell breaks loose and there's a baby crashing and a mom crashing and there's emergencies and

30:24.360 --> 30:31.203
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, that I was very happy to give up and the babies always come between midnight and for am.

30:31.403 --> 30:34.305
[SPEAKER_01]: So the up all night, grueling, time schedule.

30:34.785 --> 30:36.285
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I was getting a little too old for that.

30:36.345 --> 30:37.826
[SPEAKER_01]: So I was I was happy to give that.

30:37.866 --> 30:41.528
[SPEAKER_01]: But of course I missed my colleagues and my the nursing staff that I worked with.

30:41.548 --> 30:42.608
[SPEAKER_01]: They were all fantastic.

30:43.148 --> 30:46.370
[SPEAKER_01]: But I get just as much fulfillment.

30:46.390 --> 30:50.932
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it's the word that I'm looking for in seeing patients that came in and say,

30:51.812 --> 30:56.196
[SPEAKER_01]: Dr. Gomer, I came in here and I felt so horrible.

30:56.396 --> 31:04.403
[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't like myself, I didn't like my partner, I didn't like the way I looked, I had no energy, I'd gained weight, you know, all the myriad of symptoms that were here.

31:05.104 --> 31:07.826
[SPEAKER_01]: And we, my husband and I were about to get a divorce.

31:08.406 --> 31:11.730
[SPEAKER_01]: But we're both patients now, we both feel so much better.

31:12.571 --> 31:15.475
[SPEAKER_01]: We love each other again, and you have changed our life.

31:16.095 --> 31:18.879
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I'm sorry, that is amazing.

31:18.899 --> 31:24.025
[SPEAKER_01]: Just as good as giving a beautiful new baby to a new mom.

31:24.966 --> 31:28.250
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, it's a different kind of fulfillment, but it feels just as good.

31:28.870 --> 31:34.494
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, I think it's interesting that we're talking about I was going to I was going to say this that I heard before you started talking about new board babies.

31:34.714 --> 31:44.520
[SPEAKER_00]: Is that I heard what in regards to owning our own business or being an entrepreneur that, um, if that to baby needs to eat at 3 a.m. You got to get up early.

31:44.540 --> 31:46.822
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, be up for business needs to get hungry.

31:47.082 --> 31:48.223
[SPEAKER_00]: and it needs to be fed.

31:48.283 --> 31:54.525
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't set boundaries on it or a start and a stop time and you can't, you know, the business isn't a care if you want to go to the gym.

31:54.825 --> 31:56.866
[SPEAKER_00]: The business isn't care if you haven't gotten any sleep.

31:56.966 --> 32:00.347
[SPEAKER_00]: The business isn't care if somebody else quit and this needs to get done.

32:00.387 --> 32:02.088
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I was like, God, that's

32:03.304 --> 32:04.245
[SPEAKER_00]: Really accurate.

32:04.285 --> 32:05.005
[SPEAKER_00]: So I thought it was funny.

32:05.025 --> 32:09.229
[SPEAKER_00]: I was going to mention that then you're like it is a newborn babies of the hospital.

32:09.329 --> 32:11.030
[SPEAKER_00]: So, but I mean, that's kind of what it is.

32:11.050 --> 32:24.862
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, but in your own baby, it's your own baby and if you're not watching out for it, who is right, it is all the care and the love and the energy and the good times, the bad times, the ups and downs.

32:25.540 --> 32:32.244
[SPEAKER_01]: It's your baby and that is, I mean, it's a perfect analogy, I think, because it's the more time you put into it, the better it's going to be.

32:32.264 --> 32:47.892
[SPEAKER_01]: But it does grow up and it does grow up and then and then you do have to give some of that care and authority over to other other people, because maybe you get too large that it's too much for one person to manage everything.

32:49.073 --> 32:53.537
[SPEAKER_01]: So, yes, at some time or another, you do have to loosen the reins a little bit as you scale.

32:53.777 --> 33:04.846
[SPEAKER_00]: So, okay, so I want to circle back to think this is a really big, a big subject in terms of do I go into partnership with someone if I'm starting a business or do I do this by myself?

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And I've had, again,

33:08.509 --> 33:29.268
[SPEAKER_00]: with all the trainings that I've done, I've had a lot of exposure to kind of surface level of different businesses or different medspares across the country and had some a privilege of knowing sometimes more information than I wanted to because they end up kind of divulging to me, some information about their personal business problems, but so I have never had a partner.

33:29.289 --> 33:29.969
[SPEAKER_00]: I do.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I remember at the beginning, craving one, because you're carrying every ounce of the stress, you're carrying every ounce of the financial burden.

33:42.356 --> 33:45.618
[SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes you're just, you want more ideas.

33:45.638 --> 33:47.179
[SPEAKER_00]: You want somebody else to go and

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[SPEAKER_00]: open the office or maybe somebody has a different skill set that you don't have.

33:52.465 --> 33:58.993
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I crave that a lot at the beginning, but I really never found anyone to partner with.

33:59.014 --> 34:02.057
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I spoke to a few people, but I just never paned out.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Now where I'm at.

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[SPEAKER_00]: super grateful that I'm by myself, not that I couldn't find someone that I could scale with, but I think that's like, I mean, that's like a marriage, right?

34:13.897 --> 34:16.177
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I mean, I mean, I mean, that's the worst.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And it was right.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So you really close with that person.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And so I know that you've been in Boston areas where you've had partnerships and you spoke say, like, hey, yeah, at this period of time of starting, there was a benefit to that because they could carry some of that load and that expertise for me that I didn't have.

34:32.702 --> 34:49.788
[SPEAKER_00]: But can you talk to kind of maybe give us a little timeline of what that experience has been for you because I know you've had two different partnerships, and now you're a soul owner, but also like if you're speaking to somebody who is embarking on this, what advice would you give them?

34:50.668 --> 34:52.669
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, well, that was a lot.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I thank you for the lead up to that because, um,

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[SPEAKER_01]: I think there are definitely good partnerships.

35:02.524 --> 35:04.085
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to tell you the opposite story.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Bad partnerships.

35:06.006 --> 35:07.347
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, sorry to interrupt.

35:07.407 --> 35:17.233
[SPEAKER_00]: If you or someone you know is interested in building your confidence and feeling like your best self, both inside and out, I encourage you to visit Horizon at Medspot and Wellness in Kansas City.

35:17.253 --> 35:20.575
[SPEAKER_00]: We have two locations in Shawnee and near the Kansas City Plaza.

35:20.855 --> 35:22.657
[SPEAKER_00]: We offer so many different things.

35:22.737 --> 35:31.728
[SPEAKER_00]: If you would like to check us out, go to horizon medspot and wellness.com or you can see us on Instagram that horizon underscore medspot underscore wellness.

35:32.108 --> 35:33.170
[SPEAKER_00]: And now back to the show.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I think there's definitely good partnerships.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You just have to vet them very well.

35:39.772 --> 35:44.514
[SPEAKER_01]: You have to understand what each person is bringing to the table.

35:44.994 --> 35:51.117
[SPEAKER_01]: And everything has to be laid out in a contract that you actually read from start to finish.

35:51.197 --> 35:52.538
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's really important.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I want to highlight that that you need.

35:55.219 --> 35:56.400
[SPEAKER_01]: It is getting in writing.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I don't care if you're best friends.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.

35:58.761 --> 36:01.263
[SPEAKER_01]: You've known these people forever.

36:01.283 --> 36:03.364
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't care what the situation is.

36:04.445 --> 36:06.726
[SPEAKER_01]: Read the contract and everybody has to agree.

36:06.966 --> 36:13.170
[SPEAKER_01]: And there is a lot that can be stuck away in the fine print of a contract that if you

36:13.450 --> 36:21.377
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're not reading that, it's very easy for people to slip things in and take advantage of a situation.

36:21.637 --> 36:28.422
[SPEAKER_01]: My issue was, or my history is, my first Medspot, I had two other partners, like I said, and we all brought something different.

36:28.803 --> 36:34.547
[SPEAKER_01]: So it was nice initially to have other people with different skill sets helping with decisions.

36:40.452 --> 37:02.259
[SPEAKER_01]: sometimes you have three differing opinions on what should happen or where the the business should go or how it should grow or I mean a hundred different decisions need to be made every day and if you're not in alignment it can become very contentious on who gets to make that decision and who has more

37:06.980 --> 37:18.886
[SPEAKER_01]: And so really knowing who your business partners are, I cannot stay with enough weight that that is critical to deciding whether you want partners or not.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And if you just want financial partners and not have really any say in the business, then go find financial partners, because there's plenty of those out there.

37:29.310 --> 37:30.411
[SPEAKER_01]: My situation was it

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[SPEAKER_01]: it was not a good partnership.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I was the only medical provider.

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[SPEAKER_01]: There were things in the contract that gave my management partners two-thirds of the control of the business where I was the provider and only had one-third control of the business, which

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[SPEAKER_01]: was my own fault for not reading that contract every single word in its entirety and understanding all of that.

37:56.976 --> 37:58.676
[SPEAKER_01]: So I should end in the significance of that.

37:58.696 --> 37:59.216
[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And if I had a question, it should have been taken to my attorney.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And so I blame myself a lot for maybe being to naive certainly way too trusting.

38:09.080 --> 38:10.561
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's another thing.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Like I said, you may have been friends

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[SPEAKER_01]: They're so trustworthy.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I would love this person.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And a lot of people might start out that way.

38:23.746 --> 38:32.729
[SPEAKER_01]: However, when a small business becomes a bigger business, and now you're making a larger sum of money or profit.

38:32.989 --> 38:35.830
[SPEAKER_01]: Unfortunately, sometimes that changes people's...

38:37.290 --> 39:01.759
[SPEAKER_01]: attitudes and I was I was trying not to say that but yes morals and maybe the people that were perfectly normal and trustworthy to begin with like become someone that you don't even recognize your and people like how did you go into business with these horrible people and I'm like well they weren't that I wouldn't want that they weren't like that so it's so important for young or new business owners to understand if you have partners

39:02.499 --> 39:05.880
[SPEAKER_01]: make sure number one you vet them out that you know exactly who these people are.

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[SPEAKER_01]: What is everybody bringing to the table?

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[SPEAKER_01]: How does the contract read?

39:11.623 --> 39:18.546
[SPEAKER_01]: What happens if there is a dissolution of the of the partnership or if one wants out or however that works.

39:19.346 --> 39:21.287
[SPEAKER_01]: Because when it comes time for that.

39:22.537 --> 39:27.679
[SPEAKER_01]: to have them, yeah, you don't want to be surprised, right?

39:27.739 --> 39:36.361
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think I think a good point there is that you should also think you're naive to not think that this might dissolve, right?

39:36.421 --> 39:37.642
[SPEAKER_00]: That this might not work out.

39:37.682 --> 39:40.403
[SPEAKER_00]: If you think, oh, no, my gosh, I could totally work with this person forever.

39:40.423 --> 39:40.823
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

39:41.003 --> 39:42.623
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's the same thing as a marriage, right?

39:42.643 --> 39:44.804
[SPEAKER_00]: When you marry somebody, you think you're going to be with them forever.

39:44.964 --> 39:45.844
[SPEAKER_00]: And things change.

39:45.864 --> 39:46.364
[SPEAKER_00]: Be sure to change.

39:46.384 --> 39:48.105
[SPEAKER_01]: If you want percent of marriages end in divorce,

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[SPEAKER_00]: So having an extra plan and considering that is a respectful thing to do for yourself and for that partnership.

39:56.730 --> 39:57.290
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

39:57.510 --> 40:03.133
[SPEAKER_01]: And you should understand that for sure and everybody in the partnership should understand it.

40:04.474 --> 40:07.436
[SPEAKER_01]: If and when that time comes, there is no argument.

40:07.676 --> 40:09.477
[SPEAKER_01]: There is no question.

40:09.977 --> 40:10.798
[SPEAKER_01]: It's in black and white.

40:11.078 --> 40:12.399
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's that's the way it is.

40:12.519 --> 40:23.405
[SPEAKER_01]: And and that unfortunately, because I am a physician and not a really good business person, even though I had lots of friends and family support, I still felt.

40:24.025 --> 40:25.907
[SPEAKER_01]: at the end, like I was taking advantage of.

40:26.087 --> 40:28.188
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's on me, you know.

40:28.428 --> 40:42.477
[SPEAKER_01]: So I put these words of advice out to anybody who's listening to this is if you're considering it, which, like I said, not all partnerships are bad, you just have to make sure that you are taking the time.

40:42.697 --> 40:47.220
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you're taking the time to look at things thoroughly and are well prepared and understand it.

40:47.741 --> 40:51.103
[SPEAKER_00]: Would you advise that if you can do it on your own, you should do that?

40:51.383 --> 41:04.707
[SPEAKER_01]: It's definitely harder at the beginning because like you said, you're you're bearing all of the stress and anxiety of every decision, but ultimately now that I am a soul partner, I am the master of my own fate, right?

41:04.847 --> 41:10.329
[SPEAKER_01]: So I still can go to my I have an advisory board.

41:10.409 --> 41:12.170
[SPEAKER_01]: I have obviously my husband as my

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[SPEAKER_01]: financial person, I've got a lot of people that I know and respect who can advise me now.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

41:20.971 --> 41:34.154
[SPEAKER_01]: And so if you feel like you have some people that can be there as your advisors, your mentors, or whatever we want to call them, then and you can financially do that.

41:35.874 --> 41:39.875
[SPEAKER_01]: It's certainly an easier road for most people, I think.

41:40.355 --> 41:46.038
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I do want to hear more about that transition into a solo practitioner, but I'm going to leave that for our next episode.

41:46.098 --> 41:46.458
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

41:46.858 --> 41:48.679
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're going to close this up.

41:48.759 --> 41:53.582
[SPEAKER_00]: Would you tell me a little bit about how where people can find you if they'd be interested in seeing you?

41:53.762 --> 41:54.042
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure.

41:54.182 --> 41:57.404
[SPEAKER_01]: So my business is regain functional medicine and aesthetics.

41:57.604 --> 42:00.505
[SPEAKER_01]: Our main office is in Lee Wood at 1100 ash street.

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[SPEAKER_01]: sweet to 10, and our office in Lawrence is on Walker-Rusodrive.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Lawrence is so small, you can't possibly miss it.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And our phone number is 913-2918-555, our website is IfilMitchBetter.com.

42:16.653 --> 42:17.673
[SPEAKER_00]: IfilMitchBetter.com.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, like that.

42:18.173 --> 42:19.494
[SPEAKER_00]: What about, do you have an Instagram?

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, we do is regain FM underscore aesthetics.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That's awesome.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Well, thank you so much.

42:25.517 --> 42:27.539
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't wait until we get to sit down.

42:27.599 --> 42:28.739
[SPEAKER_00]: We can talk for hours.

42:28.839 --> 42:29.160
[SPEAKER_00]: I know.

42:29.360 --> 42:29.560
[SPEAKER_00]: I know.

42:29.580 --> 42:32.081
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like this is going to be more than one additional podcast.

42:32.101 --> 42:33.242
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we're going to have a bite.

42:33.422 --> 42:33.702
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

42:33.722 --> 42:38.305
[SPEAKER_01]: Talk about because gosh, get me started on hormones and weight loss and peptides.

42:38.365 --> 42:38.665
[SPEAKER_01]: We could.

42:38.945 --> 42:39.826
[SPEAKER_01]: That's a whole another thing.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I think that's fantastic.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So again, thank you for joining us.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm competitors with the alumine podcast and you guys all have a great day.